Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Baptism. Reformed Church'

Assignment (M. Div.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: I argue within the following pages for a synthesis of the contemporary Charismatic and Reformed positions on baptism in the Holy Spirit. I begin by surveying the Pre-Pentecost expectations of the Spirit’s outpouring and then unfold both the Charismatic and the Reformed views concerning Spirit baptism. In a final chapter, I propose a combined approach to Spirit baptism – spectacular everydayness - that takes seriously the Charismatic emphasis on the Spirit’s role of power as well as the centrality of community that forms the backbone of Reformed pneumatology.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die volgende dokument argumenteer ek vir ‘n sintese van die kontemporêre Charismatiese en Gereformeerde standpunte oor die doop met die Heilige Gees. Ek begin deur die voor-Pinkster verwagtinge van die uitstorting van die Gees te ondersoek, en daarna fokus ek op sowel die Charismatiese en die Gereformeerde beskouings van doop met die Gees. In ‘n finale hoofstuk stel ek ‘n gekombineerde benadering tot doop in die Gees voor – spectacular everydayness – wat die Charismatiese klem op die Gees se rol van krag, sowel as die sentraliteit van gemeenskap wat die ruggraat van Gereformeerde pneumatologie vorm, ernstig opneem.

Benjamin Keach, the most prolific Particular Baptist theologian of the seventeenth century, described himself as a defender of ‘Reformed Orthodoxy’. Despite this self-identification, modern scholarship has largely relegated Keach to a self-educated dissenting pastor whose major achievement could be found in his controversial support of hymn singing. Two recent dissertations have attempted to revise this view of Keach, but no scholarly work has yet attempted to wrestle holistically with Keach’s view of himself as a Reformed theologian. This work fills that void by reviewing Keach’s own understanding of the term ‘Reformed Orthodoxy’, reconstructing Keach’s connections both in the personal contacts available in dissenting London and Buckinghamshire and in the books at his disposal, examining the major aspects of his theology, and placing that theology within the spectrum of Reformed Orthodoxy. From the time of his entry onto the public theological stage, Keach quickly became identified with those with whom he networked intellectually. From his branding as a Fifth Monarchist to his identification first as a General Baptist and later as the most prominent Particular Baptist, those connections proved to be the most idiosyncratic characteristic of Keach’s theological pilgrimage. Those connections crossed the conventional lines of systematic theology and boundaries of religious sects, resulting in Keach’s theology crossing those same lines yet remaining Reformed in its major assertions. Following the organizational structure of Keach’s catechisms and confessions, this work proceeds by expounding and interrogating Keach’s major theological positions—his understanding of the Trinity including this doctrine’s foundational role in ecclesiology, the significance of the covenants, justification, and eschatology. Throughout this exposition, Keach’s theological lenses, shaped by his contacts and his independent, creative thought, become clear. Ultimately, Keach proves himself to be a capable Reformed theologian, able and willing to dialogue with the most influential theologians, yet consistently forging his own ground within Reformed Orthodoxy as a whole and more specifically Particular Baptist theology.

This thesis is a historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the years 1650 to 1750. This study is based on confessional statements, the ecclesiological literature, and the extant church books of the Particular Baptists. It is shown that the Particular Baptists practised a definitive form of church government known traditionally as Independency, similar to that expounded by John Owen, minus infant baptism. Under the principle of the autonomy of the church the Particular Baptists practised believer’s baptism, an explicit church membership, and upheld covenant theology. Under the principle of the headship of Christ, they practised the separation of church and state, upheld the divine right of the magistrate, and also believed in the liberty of conscience. Under the principle of rule by elders the majority of the Particular Baptists practised a plurality of elders in which there was a distinction made between the roles of the pastor or minister and the ruling elders, although they occupy the same basic office of rule. However, deviation from a plural eldership took place, leading to the singlepastor- and-multiple-deacons situation, accompanied by the disappearance of ruling elders and the practice of congregational democracy in governance. This arrangement is characteristic of modern Congregationalism. Under the principle of the communion of churches the regional associations of churches accomplished much good, while a number of issues remained unresolved, including open and closed communion, congregational hymn singing, and the training of ministers. In the final chapter, the study attempts to resolve some ecclesiological issues controverted among Reformed Baptists today by applying the lessons learned from the Particular Baptists. To the Particular Baptists, Independency was the jus divinum (divinely ordained) form of church government used by God as the vehicle to carry out the Great Commission with a view to establishing biblically ordered churches, which upheld the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. These three components of church life − mission-mindedness, biblical church order, and the 1689 Confession of Faith − arose from the thorough biblicism of the Particular Baptists.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

This dissertation focuses on religious gatherings in communist Romania and the Soviet Union, 1943-1989. Church was one of the few opportunities for voluntary associational life and is invaluable for the study of power, ideology, and belonging in an everyday social setting. This project is based on archival documents and memoirs, uncovering how state officials and religious representatives struggled to establish religious practice that would be acceptable to all. Although ideologically atheist, state officials regarded some religious gatherings as acceptable and others unacceptable, but not due to utterances of beliefs or performance of traditional sacraments, but because of social aspects: how people related to one another, what kinds of people came, the settings of the gatherings, and affective characteristics like enthusiasm, engagement, and authenticity. Even though believers participated in religious gatherings for their own reasons, state officials policed them as contests for mobilization. This project compares the cases of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Reformed Church of the Transylvanian region of Romania and the Russian Orthodox Church and the Baptist Church in the Moscow region of the Soviet Union. Based on comparisons, the role of a Church's culture in shaping church-state relations becomes clear. Officials largely considered traditional Orthodox hierarchy and rituals as religiously unproblematic, but they underestimated the power of such features of Orthodoxy to endure and mobilize successive generations. The hierarchical nature of the Orthodox Churches did not preclude spirited negotiations over acceptable Orthodox religiosity, but non-conforming or innovating priests were marginalized relatively easily. Protestant Churches have had a more entrenched custom of decentralization in governance and Scriptural interpretation, factors which presented officials with difficulty in centralizing the management of such churches and which at times led to protracted interpersonal battles and inner-church divisions. One such case sparked the Romanian Revolution in 1989. Officials in Romania and the Soviet Union handled the problem of religion very similarly in defining the acceptable limits of religious activity in practice, but virulent attacks on religion in the Soviet Union prior to WWII made for a stronger lingering religious antagonism there after the War than in Romania, where Orthodoxy was at times incorporated into the state’s nationalist discourse.

This thesis examines five religious organisations which existed in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, collectively known as the Maritime Region, between 1880 and 1920. Each of these denominations emphasised holiness theology, albeit in varying degrees. They include, in order of their establishment in the region, the Methodist Church, the Free Christian Baptist Conference, the Salvation Army, the Reformed Baptist Alliance of Canada and the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. This study assesses these religious bodies in a number of ways. First, it examines their theological beliefs, comparing them with one another and tracing any changes which occurred in them between 1880 and 1920. Second, it considers the various associations which each of these denominations developed with the late nineteenth-century American holiness movement. The enquiry devotes particular attention to the response of each religious body to a spiritual encounter, known as ‘entire instantaneous sanctification’, popularised especially during the last quarter of the nineteenth century by the holiness movement in parts of Canada, Great Britain and the United States. Third, a review of the unique strengths and weaknesses of each of the five institutions offers an explanation for the numerical and financial growth of several of these groups early in the twentieth century, as well as the degeneration of others. Fourth, the study discloses much of the opposition which was directed towards Maritime holiness movement sympathisers, offering a number of explanations why some of these individuals left their traditional religious affiliations to join holiness bodies which they perceived to be true advocates of scriptural holiness. Fifth, it appraises the strong leadership which a number of individuals offered to the holiness cause in the Maritime region, taking into account the education, religious training, financial status, gender and ancestral origin of these men and women. Finally, a thorough statistical analysis of each constituency highlights the unique composition of each denomination’s membership. Taken together, these features inform the primary argument of the thesis, which is that significant transformations occurred in some of these religious bodies at the same time as large percentages of constituents became wealthier and more socially acceptable. These changes eventually facilitated the merger of the Methodist Church and the Free Christian Baptist Conference, the two oldest denominations, with national mainline religious bodies. This thesis contends that such unions may not have occurred had these groups not attained public recognition. Furthermore, in realising these achievements both of these denominations relinquished the more radical elements of their heritage, as well as much of the spiritual passion linked with it.

In the preservation of a small historic church, a state-wide education center for the arts is proposed due to the similarity of their inherent and adaptive nature in function. A similar sized, new building mass with a contemporary design style is added to the old church; it will also utilize a competitive contrast to the old church in its design. The integration of the old and the new buildings will find new meanings within historic preservation.
Master of Architecture

From earliest times Christians have differed among themselves concerning their understanding and practice of baptism. In the early church of the third and fourth centuries there was a remarkable variety of baptismal practices within the 'One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church', including infant baptism, believers' baptism, delayed baptism, emergency baptism and death-bed baptism. In subsequent centuriest diversity of baptismal views and practices was greatly restricted by ecclesiastical and civil repression. In more recent times increasing religious freedom and the growing fragmentation of 'Christendom' have resulted in various baptismal practices developing, usually associated with certain traditions and denominations. Today, three major baptismal traditions can be identified: Catholic, Reformed and Baptistt each with their own particular insights, strengths and weaknesses. Something of a theological stalemate has been arrived at today in the arena of polemical debate for one particular baptismal position. The visible unity of Christians with one another in the world is intimately linked to their divine calling to be a witness to the saving, healing and reconciling work of God in Christ. The ability of Churches to incorporate legitimate diversity within an authentic unity is vital to their ministry in and to a broken and alienated world. Many differences of baptismal understanding and practice constitute just such a legitimate diversity. In any Christian hierarchy of truths the imperatives of lovet reconciliation and unity must rank higher than matters of baptismal rites and doctrines. To allow baptismal differences, therefore, to divide Christians from one another constitutes a failure of Christian love. Empirical research has revealed a widespread and strong desire for a unity that could transcend baptismal differences. The ideal has already been implemented within a number of individual congregations and in a few denominations and found to be workable. The challenge remains to the wider Christian community to allow genuine freedom of conscience in baptismal matters within one united Christian fellowship.
Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This dissertation examines the relationship between Baptists and social reform from 1770 through 1860. Chapter one examines two explanations to the social movements of this period. Attention is given to the tension between personal piety and social activism inherent in Baptist life. Chapter two explores the most controversial social issue of the nineteenth century: slavery. By weighing in on the colonization scheme, religious instruction, and abolition. Chapter three examines one of the most significant but least known debates of the antebellum period: the effort to end Sabbath mail delivery. Baptists pressed for a legislative end to a social problem. Not all Baptists shared the conviction that Congress should interfere. The subject of chapter four is the evangelical crusade against poverty. Baptists spiritualized the effort. Fighting poverty meant encouraging conversion and promoting virtue. Chapter five presents the temperance crusade as a spiritual and political mission. Temperance tested Baptist convictions more than any other philanthropic movement. The tension between the sacred and the secular came to the fore as Baptists disagreed over the role of benevolent societies. Chapter six examines the role of piety in Baptist life. It argues that far from forcing Baptists to withdraw from society and culture, their view of personal piety drove them into society. It was forged by their understanding of and desire for religious liberty. From very early on, they came to believe that society's best hope was a Christian and a church committed to the gospel. Even when Baptists articulated the spiritual nature of the church, they did so with the understanding that a spiritual church is a blessing to society. Chapter seven considers the impetus for direct political engagement discussed by Baptists. Always rejecting party politics, Baptists knew they had a responsibility to engage the public sphere. Pastors looked for "the medium path" that embraced every topic worthy of sermonizing without degrading their ministry. Chapter eight summarizes the argument. Baptists were social reformers.
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